Hill House

On this page

• Overview
• Kindness, compassion and dignity
• Treating people as individuals
• Independence, choice and control
• Responding to people’s immediate needs
• Workforce wellbeing and enablement

Caring – this means we looked for evidence that the service involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect. At our last assessment we rated this key question inadequate. At this assessment the rating has changed to good. This meant people felt well-supported, cared for or treated with dignity and respect. Staff were kind and compassionate and people told us they liked the staff team and how they were supported. Staff knew people as individuals and supported them in a timely fashion. People were supported to make choices and be independent if they chose to be.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service now always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity. Staff treated colleagues from other organisations with kindness and respect. People and their relatives were positive about the kind and caring nature of the staff team. People’s comments included, ‘‘I am happy with all the staff here. They are all kind and caring people.’’ and ‘‘The staff are really lovely, kind and patient.’’ A relative said, ‘‘We are very happy with the care. [Staff] will always let me know if anything has happened or if [family member] is not too well. They treat them really well and they will have a laugh and a joke with them.’’ Staff were passionate about their job roles and told us how much of a difference there had been at the service since our last assessment. They were now encouraged to spend quality time with people, engaging with them in conversation. Staff spoke with people kindly and compassionately and people were happy and relaxed being supported by them. The management team spent time directly supporting people and working with the staff team to help ensure people were consistently being supported with kindness and compassion.

The service now treated people as individuals and made sure people’s care, support and treatment met people’s needs and preferences. They took account of people’s strengths, abilities, aspirations, culture and unique backgrounds and protected characteristics. People told us staff understood their support needs and treated them as individuals. A relative said, ‘‘[Staff] are very good with [family member] and very patient. They are trying to get their confidence back after a couple of falls and have helped them to eat and drink again to get their strength back. They knew exactly how to support them to do these things because they know them so well.’’ Staff spoke about people’s likes and dislikes and it was clear they knew how to support people as individuals. They spoke with people about topics that interested them and knew how to encourage and support them. For example, one person became upset and anxious regularly whilst walking around the service. Staff knew how to engage with them and help them relax. The person became visibly more settled with this support. People’s care and support plans detailed how to support people in line with their individual needs and preferences.

The service now promoted people’s independence, so people knew their rights and had choice and control over their own care, treatment and wellbeing. People told us staff supported them to make choices and to be as independent as possible. One person said, ‘‘I feel absolutely safe here. [Staff] keep an eye on me, but they let me do as much as I can which I appreciate.’’ A relative told us, ‘‘[Family member] is a very proud person and the staff team know this. They really make the effort to let them do as much as possible themselves but are on hand at all times to help if needed.’’ Another relative said, ‘‘[Family member] finds it difficult to make choices but staff help them as much as possible. They always show them the options, so they know what the choices are.’’ Staff told us how they offered people choices in ways such as showing them physical choices or by reading their care plans. They also told us how they supported people to be independent and promoted this in different ways. For example, one person was supported to eat independently by having food prepared a specific way as they found it more difficult to use cutlery. Another person was supported to independently choose their drink. People’s care plans detailed how to help people make choices and be independent.

The service now listened to and understood people’s needs, views and wishes. Staff responded to people’s needs in the moment and acted to minimise any discomfort, concern or distress. Staff were on hand to support people immediately if they needed help. They answered all bells in a timely fashion and people did not have to wait if they needed immediate support. One person said, ‘‘I could use my call bell if I wanted but I don’t need to. Staff are around all the time, so I always get help when I need it.” Another person told us how relaxed they felt knowing staff would help them immediately with their personal care. Staff told us they prioritised supporting people with their immediate support needs and the management team encouraged them to do this. The management team spent time working with the staff team to help ensure they were supporting people with these needs first and foremost. They also told us they were going to start formalising competencies for staff in relation to supporting people with dignity and respect.

The service now cared about and promoted the wellbeing of their staff and supported and enabled staff to always deliver person-centred care. Staff enjoyed working at the service and were positive about the support they had from the management team and provider. They spoke about the difference in the atmosphere at the service since our last assessment. They now felt empowered to speak up and prioritise people’s care and support. The management team understood the importance of staff wellbeing. They spoke with staff regularly and made sure they had the support they needed to perform their roles as best as possible.